Artigos Originais June 01, 2002 June 01, 2002

The role of fasting capillary glycemia in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus: correlation with cardiovascular risk factors

DOI: 10.1590/S0004-27302002000300007

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a very prevalent disease worldwide. To assess the role of fasting capillary glycemia (FCG) in the diagnosis of early DM, 277 subjects (202F/75M) were studied. Volunteers were apparently healthy, older than 30 years of age, and were recruited in a clinic where they came accompanying patients or to undergo a routine blood analysis. Pregnant women and patients with previous diagnosis of DM were excluded. After an anthropometric evaluation, a FCG was obtained. Cases with FCG >96mg/dl underwent fasting plasma glycemia repeated 2 hours after ingestion of 75g dextrosol. FCG was £96mg/dl in 187 cases (67.5%), and >96 mg/dl in 90 (32.5%). When age, weight, body mass index, abdominal waist and hip/waist of the 2 groups were compared, values were all statistically higher (p< 0.01) in cases with FCG >96mg/dl. The incidence of DM was 7.2%; glucose intolerance was present in 4.3%. In conclusion, FCG was found to be a precious tool for the diagnosis of early DM.